


standing firm (on shifting sand)

by alamorn



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: Gen, pre-season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-14
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-08-15 01:00:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8036149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alamorn/pseuds/alamorn
Summary: Seth. Kate. The ghosts of brothers lost.The first night after the Titty Twister.





	standing firm (on shifting sand)

Seth glanced over at the girl next to him. He kept expecting her to start shaking or crying or something, but she just stared out across the desert, not saying anything. He licked his lips, tried to think of something to say, and failed. Seth had never been at a loss for words in his life. Richie was the smart one, came up with the plans, cracked the safes, had better aim, but Seth? Seth could _talk_. No one liked Richie. He didn’t know how to make them, how to speak softly and sweetly. And now Seth couldn’t even do that.

He couldn’t talk Richie out of his madness, couldn’t talk his way out of the labyrinth, couldn’t talk the Ranger out of his hunt, and now he couldn’t even talk to a girl years younger and a million times softer that him.

Or he’d thought she was softer, thought all her talk of God, of forgiveness and love made her weak. But she’d lost as much as he had, more, without anything to prepare her for it, and there she sat, bloody but unhurt.

“Where are we going?” she asked and he jerked at the break in the silence.

“Away,” he said, after a moment. “Didn’t really think it through much further than that. Anywhere you want to go?”

When he looked over this time, she was chewing her lip. “Someplace with a shower.”

He had to laugh at that. So practically minded, this girl who’d chosen a fucking _chainsaw_ as a weapon. She really was magnificent, this preacher’s daughter, like one of those old saints, the ones who were tortured and never lost faith. And because Seth was a bastard, but not a _fucking_ bastard, he wanted to drag her down to his level, but he wouldn’t. Probably couldn’t anyway, if she came out of the goddamn Titty Twister with her head on straight.

Kate shot a glance at him as if she were considering glaring but couldn’t work up the energy. “And maybe the beach, after that. I’d like to see the ocean.”

“I’ve never seen it,” he offered.

She twisted to face him more squarely, and because there was no one else on the road, he twisted too, throwing his arm over the back of her seat. “You haven’t seen it?” she asked. “But you had money.”

He shrugged. “I grew up in the Midwest. We mostly pulled jobs in the Southwest. Never managed to make it to the coast.”

“We should go to the beach, then,” she said. Then, “I’ve never seen it either. I can’t really imagine it. I mean, I’ve seen it on TV and in the movies, but I’m a Texas girl. I’ve never seen that much water.”

“All right,” he said. “The beach it is.”

She smiled and he wanted to kiss her. The urge was so sudden, so unexpected, that he shifted sharply in his seat. Was it because he’d seen her kissing Richie, a sort of misplaced, twisted jealousy? Was it because he was so relieved to be alive and the only way he’d ever dealt with the adrenaline of finishing a job was a filthy fuck?

Was it because she was stronger than him and he’d always and only loved things that could destroy him?

Seth pushed it away and kept driving. The desert was almost hypnotic and he had to keep shaking himself awake. That he hadn’t slept in over thirty hours didn’t help.

“I can drive,” Kate said, the next time he shook his head.

“Do you even have your license?” he asked.

“ _Yes_ ,” she said. “I’m a great driver. Best in my youth group.”

He glanced over to see if she was joking. Her eyes sparkled. “If you want, but we’re stopping at the first motel we see.”

“Pull over,” she said. He did, allowed her to steer him to the passenger seat.

It took another half an hour to find a motel. Kate drove speed limit, when she could tell what it was, which was probably the most annoying thing about her. Seth resolved to teach her how to really drive. He’d need a getaway driver if he was going to pull any jobs – no. He wouldn’t do that to her.

By some unspoken agreement, they got one room. It had two hard beds and a carpet with a dozen cigarette holes. The second they opened the door, Kate pushed past him and bee-lined for the shower. He let her have it, just started pulling off his filthy clothes.

Lying on the bed closest to the door in his wifebeater and boxers, he closed his eyes and listened to the shower run.

She was in there a long time. Crying? She hadn’t said what happened to her family, but she wouldn’t have left them if she didn’t have to. Seth’s chest ached. _Richie_. Had he had to leave him?

 _Yes, yes, don’t start doubting yourself now_. Seth rolled over and buried his face in the pillows. Riche had betrayed _him_ , not the other way around. Richie was probably overjoyed with his new snake bitch girlfriend.

The water turned off. Seth didn’t move. Did Kate have any clean clothes? He hadn’t seen her grab anything from the RV. He certainly didn’t have any clean clothes. He should’ve stopped somewhere and picked something up. He’d kill for jeans and a t-shirt.

A soft, “Ew,” came from the bathroom and he laughed into his pillow. She was still a teenage girl, after all.

Oh Christ. He sat up. Did this mean he was, like, her guardian or something? Would he have to get her back to school? Seth wouldn’t have finished high school without Richie bitching at him, he was in no position to be in charge of Kate’s education.

She came out, hair dripping on her shoulders, looking small and scared and young. She’d put the dirty clothes back on, and her skin almost glowed next to the filthy shirt. “Hey,” she said. “We need to go shopping.”

He looked at his own clothing, dank as it was. “Yeah,” he said. “I kinda got that. You got any money?”

“Not really,” she said. “Twenty American dollars.”

“Not gonna go far,” he said.

She sat down on the other bed. “No, probably not. How did you pay for the room?”

“Credit card I found in the glove box. Here’s hoping it doesn’t get shut off for a few more days, huh?”

They both remembered that the former owner was dead in the Twister at the same time and the room lapsed into uncomfortable silence.

“Well,” Kate said, “I’m too tired to go shopping right now.” With that she lay down on the other bed and pretended to go to sleep.

Seth sighed and scrubbed at his face with his hands. Richie would have cracked a joke, inappropriate at best, and Seth could have snapped at him and then everything would have been okay again. Or not okay, but. Not this, this empty, awkward, angry silence. If he snapped at Kate, she’d probably shatter into a million pieces.

He went to take his shower. The bathroom was even more dingy than the room, but he hardly had room to judge, caked with blood and filth as he was. He turned the shower knob and a slow trickle started. Cold.

He swore under his breath and sucked it up. This wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen to him within the past two hours, let alone the last thirty.

 

When he emerged from the bathroom, slightly cleaner and a lot more unhappy, Kate had slipped into true sleep. Her face was screwed up, and tears leaked down her cheeks, but she didn’t make a noise.

“Christ,” he hissed at himself. “Good fucking job, asshole.”

His own sleep was no better.

**Author's Note:**

> I was going through my WIP folder and decided to finish a few things up. 
> 
> Come yell about the new season with me on tumblr! I'm alamorn there, too!


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